The present relates generally to electronic apparatuses, such as a personal computer (“PC”), a cell phone, a personal handy-phone system (“PHS”), a game machine, a personal digital assistant (“PDA”), a digital camera, a digital video, and a music player, and a function expanding unit that is wire-connected or wireless-connected to the electronic apparatus and expands functions of the electronic apparatus. The function expanding unit broadly covers external storages, such as a hard disc drive (“HDD”), output devices, such as a printer, input devices, such as a mouse and a scanner, and communication apparatuses, such as a modem and a network-connecting unit.
Media cards, such as a SD card, a Memory Stick, and a Smart Media, have recently been widespread and used as storage media for electronic apparatuses, such as digital cameras and PCs. One means for reading data from the media card on a PC and for writing data from the PC onto the media card is to insert the media card into a media card adapter and insert the adapter into a PC card slot in the PC so as to read and write the data.
Usually, the media cards have different shapes and sizes according to types, and different adapters are generally used for different media cards: For example, a SD card is associated with a SD card adapter, and a Memory Stick is associated with a Memory Stick adapter. However, this system is costly and arduous because a user has to exchange an adapter whenever he exchanges a media card.
Accordingly, Japanese Patent Application, Publication No. 2001-188883 proposes an adapter that can detachably accommodate plural media cards of the same type or different types. With this adapter, the electronic apparatus does not have to include plural media card connectors only if the electronic apparatus has a connector with this adapter, thereby advantageously expanding functions of an electronic apparatus and facilitating manufacturing of the electronic apparatus.
Japanese Patent Application, Publication No. 2001-188883 discloses, as shown in FIG. 17, an adapter 3 that has three slots 6a, into which a SD card 15 is releasably inserted, on a side surface 4a along a longitudinal direction, and one slot 6b, into which a SD card 16 of a different type from the SD card 15 is releasably inserted, on a side surface 4b along a lateral (or width) direction.
However, the conventional electronic apparatus does not enable plural media cards to be independently inserted into and ejected from the adapter while the adapter is being accommodated in the housing of the electronic apparatus. The housing of the electronic apparatus has a slot, into which the adapter is releasably inserted. When the adapter slot exposes the media-card slot, the media card can be inserted into and ejected from the adapter while the adapter is being accommodated in the housing of the electronic apparatus. For example, the media card 16 is inserted into and ejected from the adapter 3 shown in FIG. 17, while the adapter 3 is being accommodated in the electronic apparatus (not shown). However, when the adapter 3 shown in FIG. 17 is inserted into the housing of the electronic apparatus (not shown), the slots 6a are shielded by the housing of the electronic apparatus (not shown) and no media card 15 is inserted into and ejected from the adapter 3 in this state. In order to insert the media card 15 into the adapter 3 and eject the media card 15 from the adapter 3, the adapter 3 needs to be arduously ejected from the electronic apparatus. Thus, the conventional electronic apparatus has a disadvantage of bad operability.